Marcus Mariota, Titans might be NFL's most overlooked story

SportsPulse: Trysta Krick recaps a crazy weekend in the NFL that saw two teams go for wins rather than ties in overtime with the Titans pulling off a gutsy win. Now we have to ask: Is Tennessee legit?
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Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) is congratulated after a touchdown run during the second half against the Philadelphia Eagles at Nissan Stadium.(Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY Sports)

At some point, it’s less about the Houston Texans bordering on collapse, the Jacksonville Jaguars getting big heads and the Philadelphia Eagles needing more time to mesh.

At some point, it’s more about the story going on in Nashville. It’s more about the Titans, bombarded with injuries and other issues early in this season, still not close to what they could be at full capacity, yet sitting at 3-1 with wins over the Super Bowl champ Eagles and Super Bowl hopeful Jaguars.

It’s more about Marcus Mariota, throwing with brilliance Sunday at Nissan Stadium even though his fingers remain partially numb. Three times he converted fourth downs in overtime with the Titans trailing 23-20, the last a fourth-and-2 flip to running back Dion Lewis after first-year coach Mike Vrabel sent out the field-goal unit and then decided better of it.

On Mariota’s last chance to win it before a tying field goal would have been the call, he won it – standing in against six rushers and lofting high in the end zone to Corey Davis, who beat Avonte Maddox’s man coverage, ripped the ball out of the sky, crashed to the grass with it and celebrated the 26-23 victory amid a mass of bodies.

“It was like a movie. It was awesome,” said Titans safety Kevin Byard, who stood on a bench with defensive teammates during the decisive 16-play, 75-yard drive, cheering every clutch Mariota play and saying to cornerback Logan Ryan when Vrabel decided to go: “Oh my God.”

“And I said, ‘We’re winning the game because we’re playing to win,’” Ryan recalled.

“When you have a head coach that believes in you, man, that means the world,” said Mariota, who threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns with a pick, completing the 11th game-winning drive of his career. “I think he’s kind of instilled that since the beginning.”

And what a first month Mariota-to-Davis-with-5-seconds-left-in-overtime capped. The Titans piled onto one another and their fans let them hear it, drowning out the thousands of Eagles fans who helped pack Nissan Stadium – and hopefully had a nice weekend in Nashville apart from watching their team blow a 17-3 lead and fall to 2-2.

“Those guys in there are sick to their stomachs,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said of his players.

But they remain on the short list of NFL championship contenders this season.

And the Titans? They’ve got to be on some list somewhere.

“It’s ridiculous that people don’t give the Titans enough credit,” Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan said after playing opposite the other star bookend, Jack Conklin (knee), for the first time this season. “Obviously we’ve been up and down with wins the last two seasons. We’ve had winning seasons with a big playoff win. You’ve got to start giving the boys more credit, man. Like, there’s 32 (NFL) teams, there’s not 31. You’ve got to start respecting Nashville.”

The perceived lack of it is never far from the surface in the Titans locker room, but a couple of points must be made in light of Sunday’s result. One, that’s about to change – this team won’t have the “No one picked us” card to play next week at Buffalo and beyond. Two, it doesn’t much matter.

What matters is that the Titans have plowed through extraordinary challenges to achieve a better first month than seemed likely even for a healthy Titans team.

Lose at Miami in the longest game in NFL history while seeing your star tight end suffer a leg fracture, your quarterback go out with an elbow nerve injury and your left tackle knocked out cold on a dirty hit? Get ready for Houston.

Take on Houston with your backup quarterback and No. 4 and No. 5 offensive tackles? Play superior defense against quarterback Deshaun Watson, score on a fake punt and come up with a plan that hides your issues.

Go to mighty Jacksonville with your backup quarterback still starting and two of your top three offensive tackles still out? Play superior defense against quarterback Blake Bortles, get a gutty relief performance from Mariota and do enough on the ground to win a battle of field goals.

Take on the Eagles without your top outside receiver of the past two seasons because he’s unhappy with how much he’s getting the ball even though he’s coming off a knee injury and this offense has been run-and-turtle for two weeks out of necessity? Bid Rishard Matthews adieu, get crucial red-zone stops against quarterback Carson Wentz, unleash Mariota-to-Davis and claw your way to one of the most thrilling wins in Titans history.

“Phenomenal,” Vrabel said. “The last thing I said to Marcus (before the game) was, ‘I can’t wait to watch you play today. I didn’t know it was going to be five quarters. … My heart pills come in, I’ve got a prescription, big bottle. I’m just proud of him to execute in the most critical situation in the game.”

Now the Titans are set up to make a run at things, tied atop the AFC South with Jacksonville and possessing a road win over the Jaguars. The schedule will get lighter. The respect will come. In weeks like this, with more attention on the Titans because of their opponent, you really get a sense for how many people around this league still can’t pronounce Mariota.

It’s MARR-iota, people. It's not MARE-iota. But don’t worry. You’re about to start getting more practice.

Reach Joe Rexrode at jrexrode@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @joerexrode.

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Vance McDonald runs after a catch as the Baltimore Ravens' Tavon Young (25) and Tony Jefferson (23) tackle during the second quarter at Heinz Field. Charles LeClaire, USA TODAY Sports

Jacksonville Jaguars offensive guard Andrew Norwell (68) bats down a tipped pass to prevent an interception during the second quarter against the New York Jets at TIAA Bank Field. Reinhold Matay, USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley catches the ball in front of Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr (55) to score a touchdown in the first quarter of the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Rams' Robert Woods (17), Cooper Kupp (left) and Blake Countess (24) huddle before they take the field to warm up before the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA TODAY Sports